An Odyssey

Once upon a time, there was a boy full of life. He couldn't sit still, which brought his parents great strife.

One day he found a map towards adventure, deciding to set off that night. But it will be dark, and he was scared, so he packed his flashlight.

His mom called after him, "Be careful sweetie. And don't forget your jacket!". "Jeez mom," he replied, embarrassed by her ill-timed racket.

For he had recruited his posse, to come out and play. "This is serious business.", he called back, as the sun set on this first day.

The map, he found, was written in morse code. It didn't make sense, there were these unnecessary folds.

As he struggled to find some hidden key, he thought to himself "This map maker must have been nutty."

But not one to give up, he pressed on with his plight. "A special place in hell..." the boy murmured as he struggled with all his might.

With his brow furrowed in frustration, he happened across the town Sage, a well-known master of oration, married to the town Mage.

The boy was shy at first, scared of being misunderstood. But he warmed up quickly after realizing they were from the same neighborhood.

And as they lay by the fire, the wise old man spoke of simplifying things, from gadgets to family to philosophical kings.

As the man leaned back to gaze upon the stars, he spoke to the gang of young friends with wisdom from afar:

You can make your mark, just wish on a star.We'll climb tall mountains and get lots of scars!But never give up, no matter how hard.We won't regret a moment, playing in our backyard.

And as the Sage was about to help decipher the map, he looked down lovingly at the boy fast asleep in his lap.

The Sage took great care to tuck them in tight, so none of the campfire bugs would be able to bite.

There would be many of these nights, just like those before. But as the boy grew older, he left them all behind to explore.

He wanted his boyhood friends to be a part of this new epic journey. But that wasn't their path, 'twas only reserved for those a little loony.

The boy, now a man, was gone for many moons. It took losing his love to realize he'd been such a buffoon. For the treasure he'd been hunting for his entire life, had always been around that campfire, each and every night.

So he returned to where he began, to speak again with the Sage, and it felt like homecoming as he embraced the Mage. They noticed a change from the mountains he'd overcome, and smiled knowingly at the man he'd become. Because his joy was found no longer in frivolous things, but in the loving moments spent with his families.

And for many years, he was able to live up to his own expectations. But he never forgot the pain he caused, still troubled by painful lamentations.

"You can make your mark..." he remembered the Sage always saying, but this time tears filled his eyes because his only wish wasn't worth saying.

This mountain, much too tall for any mortal to climb, the Sage, his father, was now in heaven for all time.

And as the campfire sputtered out one more time, the boy, now a Sage, looked down at his son, as he began to climb.